Public Safety

• Assure sufficient, dedicated funds for public health preparedness to ensure basic capabilities to respond to threats public health departments face every day and also to have the trained experts and systems in place to act quickly in the face of major, unexpected emergencies;
• Provide ongoing support to communities so they better cope and recover from emergencies;
• Modernize bio-surveillance to a real-time, interoperable system to better detect and respond to problems;
• Seriously address antibiotic resistance;
• Improve research, development and manufacturing of medical countermeasures;
• Increase readiness for extreme weather events; and
• Update the nation’s food safety system.
The full report is available at healthyamericans.org. Look for the report titled “Ready or Not.”

* VISIBILITY... LOCALLY REDUCED TO 2 MILES IN BLOWING DUST. CONDITIONS WILL BE MOST SEVERE OVER THE EASTERN AND NORTHEASTERN PLAINS. THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE CENTRAL MOUNTAINS WILL EXPERIENCE BLOWING SNOW.

* LOCAL IMPACTS... LOOSE OBJECTS AND BROKEN TREE BRANCHES MAY BECOME AIRBORNE AND BE TOSSED ACROSS ROADS. POWER MAY BE INTERRUPTED. DRIVERS SHOULD EXPECT LOSS OF CONTROL AT TIMES... ESPECIALLY ON ROADS ORIENTED NORTH TO SOUTH INCLUDING INTERSTATE 25 FROM GLORIETA PASS TO THE COLORADO LINE... HIGHWAY 285... HIGHWAY 54... HIGHWAY 84... STATE ROAD 39... STATE ROAD 402... AND STATE ROAD 206.

The National Weather Service has issued the following special weather statement:

SOME WINTRY WEATHER STILL POSSIBLE FOR PORTIONS OF THE EASTERN PLAINS LATER TONIGHT...

... SIGNIFICANTLY COLDER FRIDAY INTO THE WEEKEND WITH POTENTIAL FOR STRONG WINDS CENTRAL AND EAST FRIDAY...

PRECIPITATION STILL LOOKS LIKELY TONIGHT ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE EASTERN PLAINS AS A STORM SYSTEM TRACKS NORTHEASTWARD ACROSS NORTHERN MEXICO AND WEST TEXAS... BUT FORECAST MODELS CONTINUE TO TREND TOWARDS MINIMAL AMOUNTS OF ACCUMULATING SNOW OVER THE REGION.

FORECASTING THE PRECIPITATION TYPE ASSOCIATED WITH THE STORM IS STILL CHALLENGING DUE TO VERY BORDERLINE TEMPERATURES IN THE LOW AND MIDDLE LAYERS OF THE ATMOSPHERE AND SOME UNCERTAINTY AS TO EXACTLY WHEN ANY CHANGEOVER TO SNOW WILL OCCUR... THUS THE UNCERTAINTY IN SNOW ACCUMULATION AMOUNTS EXPECTED. MOST LIKELY NO MORE THAN AN INCH OR LOCALLY 2 INCHES OF WET SNOW SHOULD ACCUMULATE IN THE EASTERN PLAINS AND THAT AMOUNT OR EVEN LESS ACROSS THE SOUTH CENTRAL MOUNTAINS.

Los Alamos Police Chief Wayne Torpy is back at work and according to his colleagues, it’s as though he’s never left.

“Yeah, he’s back to ordering us around and telling us to get his coffee,” Capt. Randy Foster said jokingly. On a more serious note, Foster said “we’re really glad to have him back.”

While Torpy was away, Foster was pulling double duty as acting police chief.

About five weeks ago, Torpy was rushed to the hospital and was there for five weeks, recovering from a serious medical incident.

“Everything is fine now, it’s great to be back at work,” Torpy said. “It’s healing in some ways to be back and working with the folks here again.”

Torpy got back Wednesday and will be working half days until he’s up to full-speed.

Currently, he’s working on budgetary matters and still opening mail from well-wishers.

He thanked the community and his co-workers for making the transition to work easy.

“The reception’s been wonderful,” he said. “It hasn’t been much different from when I was gone. The community, the folks from the county, the police department have been very supportive throughout my ordeal.”

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Authorities say two hand grenades have been found in checked baggage in the past week at Albuquerque's airport.

The information was included in the TSA's weekly roundup of weapons collected in checked and unchecked baggage at the nation's airports.

Transportation Security Administration agents at Albuquerque International Sunport found the grenades.

TSA released a picture Wednesday of the grenades with their tops removed.

A Sunport spokesman says the grenades were inert. That means all energetic material such as primers, fuses, and the explosive or incendiary materials within them have been removed or otherwise rendered harmless.

According to the TSA, passengers can travel with firearms in checked baggage but they must first be declared to the airline.

TUCUMCARI, N.M. (AP) — The New Mexico Department of Transportation is urging motorists to reduce speed due to difficult driving conditions Monday on numerous highways in northern New Mexico.

Crews plowed, salted and cindered Interstate 40 in the Tucumcari area where several inches of snow accumulated.

Workers also cleared snow on Interstate 25 north of Las Vegas.

Other highways with difficult conditions reported by the New Mexico Department of Transportation include U.S. 64 near Taos Pass, New Mexico 38 from Bobcat Pass to Eagle Nest and New Mexico 104 between Las Vegas and Tucumcari.

Police Beat items are compiled from public information contained in Los Alamos Police Department Records. Charges or citations listed in Police Beat do not imply innocence or guilt. The Los Alamos Police Department uses the term “arrest” to define anyone who has been physically arrested, served a court summons, or issued a citation.
Dec. 20

12:03 p.m. — Connie Lemon-Sandoval, 67, of Los Alamos was arrested on a charge of driving on a suspended license, driving without insurance, and having no tail lamps at 38th Street.
(No time given) — Police arrested a 17-year-old Los Alamos teen for possession of a controlled substance in the 1300 block of Diamond Drive. He was then referred to juvenile authorities and released to his parents.
11:48 p.m. — Raynard Frank, 41 of Blackfoot was arrested for aggravated driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs (refusal to submit to chemical testing), and failure to stay in his lane on N.M. 4.
Dec. 21

10:06 a.m. — A 50-year-old female reported to police her house had been burglarized in the 800 block of Scott Way.
Dec. 22